Strikes by Russia and Ukraine against each other’s grain export infrastructure are further straining already stretched global food supply chains.
The attacks come as both look to reassert dominance over the Black Sea, a key conduit for barley, corn, and wheat. Experts fear a prolonged assault could lead to a sudden jump in global food prices like the one caused by Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s exports in 2022.
Such a spike could exacerbate difficulties in some of the world’s poorest countries: Extreme weather caused by the El Niño weather system threatens to push 50 million into food insecurity, many in countries already grappling with Western aid cuts that dealt a major blow to child hunger programs.
